The 1,000 adults surveyed were considered “mass affluent,” meaning they had substantial amounts of money to save or invest. Respondents who were 41 or older had investable assets, including retirement savings, between $50,000 and $250,000. Younger respondents had lower thresholds.

“This financial dependency across all generations does not stop at an inheritance,” Merrill Edge stated in an online summary of the results. “When faced with major life decisions, Americans increasingly rely on the input of others before their own instincts, especially when investing money (36 percent) and retiring (22 percent).”

The survey indicates that dependence on an inheritance goes well beyond younger people's tapping the bank of Mom and Dad. “Perhaps shifting priorities and longer life spans have Americans looking to others for security,” Aron Levine, head of Merrill Edge, observed in a letter accompanying the report.

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